Department of Health and Social Care

Long Covid: Health Services

Kim Leadbeater: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure equitable access to Long Covid clinics across the country.

Maria Caulfield: Since November 2020, £104 million has been invested by NHS England and NHS Improvement in developing and expanding 89 ‘long’ COVID-19 clinics, which included plans to ensure the most underserved populations are reached. ‘Long COVID: the NHS plan for 2021/22’, published in June 2021, details a system requirement to understand how services are meeting the needs of local populations, which is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/wp-content/uploads/sites/52/2021/06/C1312-long-covid-plan-june-2021.pdfNHS England and NHS Improvement have established a ‘long’ COVID-19 health inequalities workstream to provide direction to their ‘long’ COVID-19 programme on the potential impact of health inequalities and advise on mitigations.

Dental Services: Coronavirus

Kim Leadbeater: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure that patients will have timely access to dental appointments following the backlog caused by the covid-19 outbreak.

Maria Caulfield: We are working with NHS England and NHS Improvement and Public Health England to increase access to dental care, taking into account infection prevention and control and social distancing requirements. National Health Service dentists have been asked to meet as many prioritised needs as possible, focussing first on urgent care and vulnerable groups followed by overdue appointments. The NHS has also issued guidance on flexible commissioning to share best practice on targeting the available capacity at those most in need.

Long Covid: Health Services

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress has been made in fulfilling the aims of the document entitled Long COVID: the NHS plan for 2021/22, published in June 2021.

Maria Caulfield: An additional £70 million has been allocated to expand ‘long’ COVID-19 services delivered through Post-COVID Assessment Clinics and integrated care systems have submitted their service expansion plans. £30 million has also been allocated for an enhanced service for general practice, with a specification published in June 2021 and a draft self-assessment template published in August. Fourteen paediatric hubs have been established across England to provide advice and help coordinate care for children and young people up to the age of 18 years old. The online Your Covid Recovery service is also being improved to enhance its accessibility and promote its use. The first monthly data publication on referrals and specialist assessments in post-COVID-19 services was published on 9 September and is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-post-covid-assessment-service/

Maternity Services: Coronavirus

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 4 January 2021 to Question 127680 on Maternity Services: Coronavirus, if he will make it his Department's policy to collect information on the differences in policies at hospital Trusts and the main reasons from Trust risk assessments leading to those differences; what steps he is taking to help Trusts in finding solutions where barriers exist in implementing guidance; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Caulfield: Processes are in place to monitor compliance with the NHS England and NHS Improvement’s guidance ‘Supporting pregnant women using maternity services during the coronavirus pandemic: Actions for NHS providers’ updated in April 2021. No National Health Service trust in England is currently reporting that pregnant women are prevented from taking birth partners or supporters to hospital antenatal appointments, including scans.

Gender Recognition: Surgery

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department takes to communicate the awarding of a contract for phalloplasty to a new team; and what steps are being taken to support people who have been on the waiting list for that surgery a significant amount of time.

Maria Caulfield: A contract to provide phalloplasty services has now been awarded to the New Victoria Hospital in London. We expect patients to be seen in order of clinical need. The Gender Dysphoria National Referral Support Service will write to all patients on the waiting list and contact patients individually as soon as they are ready to be referred to the new provider.

Department for Education

Lifelong Education

Sir David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to promote lifelong learning.

Michelle Donelan: The government is investing £2.5 billion in the National Skills Fund in England.Since 1 April 2021, the government is supporting adults who do not hold A level equivalent or higher qualifications to access over 400 funded level 3 courses, with Free Courses for Jobs. This offer is a long-term commitment, backed by £95 million from the National Skills Fund in year one.Complementing this support for adults, Skills Bootcamps offer free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks to give people the opportunity to build up sector specific skills and fast-track to an interview with a local employer. The department is expanding the Skills Bootcamp programme across the country during 2021/22 financial year, with £43 million from the National Skills Fund. There will be digital Skills Bootcamps available in each English region and a wide coverage of technical Skills Bootcamps. We are also delivering Skills Bootcamps in retrofit construction skills to support the green industrial revolution.From 2025, the department will introduce a Lifelong Loan Entitlement equivalent to 4 years of post-18 education. People will be supported to study throughout their life, with the opportunity to train, retrain and upskill as needed in response to changing skills needs and employment patterns. It will help transform post-18 study, delivering greater parity between further and higher education.The department is continuing to invest in education and skills training for adults through the Adult Education Budget (AEB), investing £1.34 billion in the 2021/22 financial year. The AEB fully funds or co-funds skills provision for eligible adults aged 19 and above from pre-entry to level 3, to support adults to gain the skills required for work, apprenticeships or further learning.

Ministry of Justice

Care Proceedings

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what figures his Department holds on the number of care orders issued by local authorities in England in each of the last 10 years.

James Cartlidge: Local Authorities do not issue care orders in England. They apply to the court for care orders to be made. In England and Wales, care orders are made by the Family Court or the Family Division of the High Court.The latest information was released as part of the Family Court Statistics Quarterly release, on 30th September 2021 and will include this data for England and Wales combined up to 30 June 2021, https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/family-court-statistics-quarterly

Department for Work and Pensions

Personal Independence Payment

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to reduce the backlog of people waiting for personal independence payment claims to be processed.

Chloe Smith: We are committed to ensuring that people can access financial support through Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in a timely manner and reducing customer journey times for PIP claimants is a priority for the Department. We always aim to make an award decision as quickly as possible, taking into account the need to review all available evidence. The time it takes to clear a claim and the number of people awaiting a decision can vary reflecting factors including customer demand, operational resource and timescales for different parts of the process. In particular, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused distortion and work is ongoing to manage the recovery. The time it takes clear new PIP claims in July 2021 (most recent data available) are similar to levels a year ago. We are always looking at ways to improve the assessment process. In addition to face-to-face, we will continue to conduct paper-based, telephone and video assessments where appropriate.

Rented Housing: York

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Broad Market Rental Area for York for people renting in areas (a) inside and (b) outside the city centre.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will review the Broad Rental Market Area for York.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of the increase in the rental cost of the private rented sector on people in receipt of Local Housing Allowance.

David Rutley: Broad Rental Market Areas, of which there are 192 in Great Britain, are determined in accordance with requirements laid down in legislation. Each Broad Market Rental Area must contain a variety of property types and tenures, sufficient privately rented accommodation and access to facilities for health, education, recreation, banking and shopping. The boundaries of Broad Rental Market Areas are set by rent officers based on these factors. If at any time, rent officers decide that a boundary should be moved they must carry out a review, consulting with affected local authorities among others, and then submit a recommendation to the Secretary of State for the Department for Work and Pensions to decide. In April 2020 Local Housing Allowance rates were increased to the 30th percentile of local rents. This investment of nearly £1 billion provided 1.5 million claimants with an average £600 more housing support in 2020/21 than they would otherwise have received.We have maintained Local Housing Allowance rates at the same cash level for 2021/22, rather than reverting back to previous rates. Local Housing Allowance rates are reviewed each year, taking account of local rental data collected by rent officers.

Poverty: Education

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Education on the impact of poverty on educational outcomes; and what fiscal steps the Government is taking to tackle that matter.

David Rutley: Ministers in the Department for Work and Pensions engage regularly with their counterparts in other Departments, taking a collective approach to the policies and interventions that can make a difference to children’s outcomes.

Poverty

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has to develop a new measure of poverty in line with the recommendations of the Social Metrics Commission.

David Rutley: Our current priority is to improve the quality of our statutory measures before considering any further work on the Social Metric Commission’s measure specifically. However, we are making changes to the Family Resource Survey which will benefit the Social Metrics Commission, including improved measurement of assets, adding in new questions on debt, doubling the sample size and further linking with administrative data.

Home Office

Members: Correspondence

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to respond to correspondence dated 4 June 2021 and chase up correspondence dated 2 July, 2 August and 7 September 2021 from the hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay regarding his constituent, reference JB32688.

Tom Pursglove: We apologise for the delay and will respond to your correspondence shortly.

Refugees: Afghanistan

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will seek to resettle people arriving under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy close to those they served with from the armed forces in Afghanistan.

Victoria Atkins: We have warmly welcomed thousands of Afghan nationals to this country who have worked alongside our Armed Forces and diplomats in Afghanistan.On 1 September, we announced ‘Operation Warm Welcome’ to ensure Afghans arriving in the UK receive the vital support they need to rebuild their lives, find work, pursue education and integrate into their local communities. This includes the allocation of local authority sourced accommodation across the UK as well as Ministry of Defence accommodation. Homes will be matched carefully to families.

Refugees: Afghanistan

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of people evacuated from Afghanistan as part of Operation Pitting were (a) British nationals, (b) Afghan nationals evacuated as part of the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy and (c) Afghan nationals now subject to the Afghan citizens' resettlement scheme.

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when Afghan nationals and their family members who arrived in the UK as part of Operation Pitting will receive notification of their indefinite leave to remain.

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of the Afghan nationals evacuated as part of Operation Pitting will be settled under the Afghan citizens' resettlement scheme.

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Afghan nationals who were called forward or authorised for evacuation from Afghanistan but who were unable to board flights will be offered a place under the Afghan citizens' resettlement scheme.

Victoria Atkins: The Afghan Citizens' Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) is not yet open We are working through how many of those who were unable to board flights will be offered a place under the ACRS. More details, as soon as they are available, will be published on the GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/afghan-citizens-resettlement-schemeBetween 15 and 29 August, the Department evacuated over 15,000 people from Afghanistan. That includes over 8,000 British nationals, along with their dependants; and 5,000 Afghans who loyally served the UK, along with their dependants; and around 500 special cases of particularly vulnerable Afghans, including Chevening scholars, journalists, human rights defenders, campaigners for women’s rights, judges and many others.As the Government has announced, Afghans who have arrived under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme will be given indefinite leave to remain and others who arrived and are moving onto the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme will also be given ILR; we are working through individuals on a case by case basis.

Refugees: Afghanistan

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many additional staff her Department has deployed to countries neighbouring Afghanistan to process Afghans fleeing Afghanistan.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office uses a “hub and spoke” model for all overseas visa applications whereby applications made at Visa Application Centres across the globe are routed electronically into regional hubs, including in the UK.We will be able to meet any increase in demand through redirecting applications and redeploying staff to relevant decision making centres where required. We have not needed to deploy any additional staff to countries neighbouring Afghanistan but will keep this under review.

Refugees: Afghanistan

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will set out the process by which Afghan nationals in a recognised priority group outside of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy can (a) apply for assistance, (b) have their status as being in a priority group recorded and (c) ask for their case to receive urgent attention; and if she will make a statement.

Victoria Atkins: Please see the policy statement published on 13th September.www.gov.uk/government/publications/afghanistan-resettlement-and-immigration-policy-statement.Further details will be provided in due course.

Immigration: Afghanistan

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 15 September 2021 to Question 45845 on the revised policy on overseas fee waivers, whether applications from Afghanistan will be assessed to see if they meet the criteria for urgent applications before being automatically placed on hold.

Kevin Foster: In line with the current policy on overseas fee waivers and with reference to Question 45845, applicants can still apply for an overseas fee waiver, but the application will be placed on hold pending the revised guidance. If an application is received and it is clear the applicant’s need to travel to the UK is urgent, the application will be considered. This applies to all nationalities, including Afghan nationals.

Home Office: Flags

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which companies have supplied Union Jack flags to her Department since 2019.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of the Union Jack flags purchased by her Department in each of the last two years were manufactured in the UK.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has purchased 17 Union Jack flags since 2019, details of which are listed below:2 Marsham Street – 8 Union Jack flags purchased from The Flag Consultancy Ltd;Dallas Court – 1 Union Jack purchased from the Bespoke Flag Maker and Flagpoles company;Lunar House/Apollo House – 8 Union Jack flags provided by FM provider (Kier).All of these flags were manufactured in the UK.

Domestic Violence

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help ensure consistency in police force’s response to domestic violence across the country.

Rachel Maclean: The Government is committed to clamping down on domestic abuse. The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 achieved Royal Assent in April and is a game- changing piece of legislation which transforms our response to these crimes. We plan to publish the Domestic Abuse Strategy later this year. It will seek to transform the whole of society’s response to domestic abuse, including by strengthening the systems in place to tackle it and through a focus on pursuing perpetrators of these crimes.The College of Policing has issued guidance to all police forces on the ‘Identification, assessment and management of serial or potentially dangerous domestic abuse and stalking perpetrators’. The key principles set out that forces should have processes in place to identify serial or potentially dangerous domestic abuse or stalking perpetrators and ensure that information about the perpetrator is recorded on the Police National Computer, the Police National Database or ViSOR as appropriate.The Domestic Abuse Matters training developed by the College of Policing in partnership with SafeLives and has been delivered to 27 forces as of April 2021, with a further six forces in discussion. We continue to work closely with the College to see what more can be done to encourage take up of the Domestic Abuse Matters programme. We look forward to working with DCC Maggie Blyth as the new NPCC national VAWG lead, a key recommendation of the first ever VAWG strategy which reported this summer.Our landmark Domestic Abuse Act 2021 places the guidance on which the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (also known as Clare’s Law) is based into statute. This will place a duty on the police to apply the guidance unless there is good reason not to and will strengthen the visibility and consistent operation of the scheme across England and Wales.We are also working to address the recommendations made in the HMICFRS review of policing domestic abuse in the pandemic.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Buildings: Insulation

Sir Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent estimate he has made of the average time between an offer of funding to remediate dangerous cladding being made by his Department and a Grant Funding Agreement being signed by the applicant.

Christopher Pincher: The Government acknowledges that remediation of unsafe cladding is complex and each individual project will vary in their journey through the funding application process. Detailed information on the Building Safety Fund application process and estimated timelines can be found in the Building Safety Fund application guidance available at: www.gov.uk/guidance/remediation-of-non-acm-buildings#building-safety-fund-application-process

Buildings: Insulation

Sir Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what the average amount spent by owners of buildings is on legal advice on their Grant Funding Agreement between the agreement being offered by his Department and the owner signing that agreement.

Christopher Pincher: This information is not held by the Department.The Government's funding covers all reasonable costs directly related to the remediation of unsafe cladding systems which may include legal fees involved with managing an application and a remediation project. This would be paid out together with other costs associated with the remediation project.As a condition of funding, we require that all Government funding received, including for legal costs, are to be paid into an account which is for the benefit of leaseholders. This means that the funding can only be used for the remediation project, with no eligible project costs being passed onto leaseholders.

Department for International Trade

Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership: Dispute Resolution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether she has commissioned legal advice under her Department's contracts with (a) TLT LLP, (b) McDermott Will & Emery LLP or (c) Borden Ladner Gervais LLP on the potential effect of the Government's proposals to ban online adverts for foods high in fat, sugar and salt on the UK's exposure to Investor State Dispute Settlement claims under the provisions of Chapter 9 of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, including the currently suspended provisions of that chapter.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether she has commissioned legal advice under her Department's contracts with (a) TLT LLP, (b) McDermott Will & Emery LLP or (c) Borden Ladner Gervais LLP on the potential effect of the Government’s review of football governance, ownership and financial sustainability and any policies that may arise from that review on the UK's exposure to Investor State Dispute Settlement claims under the provisions of Chapter 9 of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, including the currently suspended provisions of that chapter.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether she has commissioned legal advice under her Department's contracts with (a) TLT LLP, (b) McDermott Will & Emery LLP or (c) Borden Ladner Gervais LLP on the potential effect of (i) the review of the Gambling Act 2005 and (ii) any changes to gambling legislation that may arise from that review on the UK's exposure to Investor State Dispute Settlement claims under the provisions of Chapter 9 of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, including the currently suspended provisions of that chapter.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether she has commissioned legal advice under her Department's contracts with (a) TLT LLP, (b) McDermott Will & Emery LLP or (c) Borden Ladner Gervais LLP on the potential effect of the (i) health and social care levy and (ii) increase in dividend tax rates announced on the 7 September 2021 on the UK's exposure to Investor State Dispute Settlement claims under the provisions of Chapter 9 of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, including the currently suspended provisions of that chapter.

Penny Mordaunt: Acceding to the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) will not prevent the UK regulating in the public interest. CPTPP explicitly reaffirms states' right to regulate under international law. It also protects this right through numerous safeguards, including procedural provisions to minimise the impacts of frivolous and unsuccessful Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) claims faced by states.